


naked trees

by hellchoirs



Series: why storms are named after people [7]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Angst, Drugged Sex, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, Manipulation, Physical Abuse, Rape/Non-con Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:26:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24582274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hellchoirs/pseuds/hellchoirs
Summary: Love is a funny thing. How can Klaus think it is one thing, while Ben adamantly disagrees with him?
Relationships: Klaus Hargreeves/Original Male Character(s)
Series: why storms are named after people [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1760482
Comments: 15
Kudos: 85





	naked trees

**Author's Note:**

> For the bad things happen prompt: faux-affectionate villain.  
> Warnings in the end notes.  
> This is part of a series! 'why storms are named after people' and I highly suggest you read the rest before reading this.

Robert loved Klaus. Klaus knew this, of course. Over the time they had spent together, surpassing the two year mark now, Klaus had had plenty of time to realise this. Klaus was incredibly lucky to have met him that fateful night in the club, where he had helped him home, leading to this relationship blossoming between them. He was lucky to have someone so understanding about his drugs and about the Academy, too. He was simply extremely lucky to have met Robert and for the man to be in love with him too.

Robert bought him things. Robert bought him clothes; casual clothes to wear, comfortable clothes to wear, skirts and dresses, sweatpants and hoodies, and sometimes he even surprised him with lingerie. Robert bought him makeup, too; eyeliner and eyeshadow and lipstick. Klaus had always enjoyed makeup, and now he didn’t have to use stolen, dirty palettes until he couldn’t scrape anything else out of it. Robert bought him drugs, too, of course; a wide variety, whatever Klaus wanted.

Robert took care of him. Robert cooked him food, Robert bought him lavender-scented body wash for the bath, and raspberry-scented shampoo and conditioner. Robert helped him sleep at night, holding him close to himself. Robert played with his hair, especially now it was growing out, sitting just above his shoulders in tight curls- he hadn’t had it cut for a while, now. Robert called him beautiful, called him gorgeous, and perfect. Robert kissed him gently and took care of everything he might need taken care of.

Klaus had never been very good at taking care of himself, and Ben would agree with that. It was better if someone else did, honestly.

Robert was rarely angry with him, too. They understood one another, and it was really very simple. Klaus did as he was told, and Robert took care of everything. Klaus didn’t talk back, and Robert took care of him. It was an easy dynamic, one easy enough that even Klaus found it hard to fuck up.

Robert was a bit possessive over him, though Klaus thought it was a stretch to call that something bad. Robert watched when clients came over for Klaus, especially after the bad trip during one session, and Robert liked to leave marks on Klaus’ body just to ensure everyone knew who he belonged to.

Klaus didn’t mind that, either. It hurt, of course, but the end result was worth it and he knew Robert wasn’t just hurting him because he wanted to, or because he didn’t like Klaus. He was nice about it, too.

His hands cupped Klaus’ cheeks as he leaned in to kiss him gentle and slow, the mattress dipping with their weight. Klaus kept his hands clasped together on his lap, his legs crossed, and leaned into Robert’s touch as well as he could. Robert stroked his cheek, tucked his hair behind his ear. He parted slightly and Klaus kept his eyes closed, waiting for the next kiss. One of his hands left his cheek, only to return a moment later in the form of a closed fist.

Klaus let out a surprised yelp, face screwing up momentarily, but then Robert was kissing him again, caressing the cheek he hit, immediately melting the tension from his body. And then he did it again, and once more followed the strike with a kiss, and so he did it again, and again, and again, until the pain snowballed and with the last hit Klaus flinched, would have ducked away if not for the other hand on his opposite cheek, holding his head in place. He screwed his face up, hunched his shoulders and one hand lifted to cover the hot skin of his cheek, all but cowering against Robert’s other hand holding him in place.

And then Robert was kissing him, and playing with his hair, and calling him amazing. Slowly the tension bled out of his body and the pain in his cheek turned to a tolerable ache. Klaus exhaled shakily, wrangling the pain under control to kiss him back.

Most of the other bruises came from Robert simply grabbing him, holding him tight enough that his skin bruised beneath the touch. He would hold his wrists or his arms and Klaus wouldn’t even notice they had bruised until later, or he would wake up with bruises he couldn’t remember getting. Not that he cared.

The drugs numbed him to it, most of the time, anyway, and with time he got used to the ever-present distant ache of his body. If it got too bad, he simply took more and it was perfectly fine.

It was fascinating, too, to watch the bruises on his skin turn different colours and fade with time, and for new ones to appear. Klaus always liked art, and he thought it was nice to imagine himself as a canvas.

Klaus knew that Robert wouldn’t go too far with it, anyway. He trusted him. It was controlled and not done just to cause him harm. At least, it hadn’t been for a while.

Klaus knew Robert was stressed from work. Robert told him so. Klaus did his best to help him relieve his stress however he could, but there was never much for Klaus to do and he never seemed to be much good at it. He tried, though.

Just obviously not hard enough.

His hands had been shaking. They always shook, some side effect of always being high and light-headed, and so his grip on the cup he was holding slipped and the cup crashed to the ground and shattered everywhere.

Robert had been particularly stressed that day. It started with a slap, and Klaus knew it wasn’t like the others; could see the anger on his face, and there was no comfort that followed it up. Instead there was a hand in his hair, and the other one came back around to slap him again.

“I-I didn’t- I’m sorry,” Klaus stammered out, and it just- made him worse?

The slap became a punch and then his back hit a wall and there were two hands around his throat, crushing more than choking him, and Klaus, for the first time, was afraid of Robert. His vision darkened and legs shook and then- he was on the ground, gasping for air in the few moments he got before a kick to his stomach forced him onto his side.

The blows just kept coming. Klaus curled in on himself, wrapped his arms around his head and eventually, he stopped pleading for Robert to stop when he realised he was getting nowhere.

It was fine. Robert had been stressed. Maybe this would help him. Klaus wanted to be useful, and if this is what he had to do; well, then he would take it all. At some point, Robert finally stopped, simply standing above him, chest heaving for breath. Klaus didn’t dare move from his spot on the floor; he didn’t think he could if he wanted to. Bloody saliva trickled from where he’d bit his lip, or his tongue, or both, and his breaths came in harsh, ragged gasps that rattled down his throat. He could hear Ben pacing, spitting colourful curses. He had stopped yelling when it became apparent that Klaus wasn’t going to fight back and that, even if he could, there was nowhere to run to; the apartment door was always locked.

Robert said something his ringing ears couldn’t catch, and then he was gone, the door slamming behind him.

Klaus forced his body to relax a little, as best as it could. It was okay, he told himself. Robert would be back and everything would be fine. This never would have happened if Klaus just hadn’t dropped that glass. He should clean that up, too.

He tried. He managed to pull himself across the floor a bit, to the mess of glass, and managed to shove some of the shards into a pile with the intention of picking it up and tossing it in the trash, but the world just kept getting darker.

Klaus woke to himself being lifted up. His hazy vision showed him Robert, picking him up off the ground, jarring all his bruises, and Klaus couldn’t help but flinch, a gasp tearing from his lips.

“’m sorry,” he slurred, voice hoarse, as he tripped and stumbled after Robert. “Di’n’t… mean to, ‘m sorry.”

Robert sat him down on the toilet. Klaus hadn’t been paying much attention to where they had been going.

“I tried to- to clean it, but… I-“

“Shhh,” hushed Robert, beginning to examining his fingers. They were bleeding- or, they had been, a little bit. Robert plucked a sliver of glass from his skin and set it aside. “You didn’t mean to,” he said, voice soft and level. “I shouldn’t have reacted like that.”

“’s okay,” Klaus hurried to say. “Don’t- it’s fine-“

“It’s not fine!” Ben cried out in the doorway. Klaus ignored him.

“You’re stressed, an’ I’m- just stupid, _I’m_ sorry. I love you,” he said, and Robert stared at him for several moments, expression unreadable.

“He could have killed you,” Ben was saying, “fuck, Klaus, please, don’t-“

Robert leaned forwards, kissing his split lips and making Klaus flinch, but he was eager to reciprocate the loving touch. “God,” murmured Robert, resting his forehead against Klaus’. “I love you so much.”

Klaus preened. Of course Robert didn’t mean to hurt him; it had just gotten out of hand. Plus, the next few days he found himself resting in bed, being cared for gently, and when he could walk properly again, Robert said, “I have a gift for you.”

Klaus blinked at him. “Oh?”

“Put some clothes on,” he said, and Klaus did as told, although it was odd; most his gifts were typically sex, new clothes, or new makeup, and none involved needing to be dressed in the first place.

But once he was dressed, Robert slid a coat over his arms and led him to the door.

Klaus had not been outside during their relationship, and they had been together for over two years now. It didn’t matter much to him; every day was a bit of a blur with the drugs, and he didn’t need to be outside. Robert always emphasised how bad and dangerous it was out there, and he liked to know Klaus was safe indoors; and so indoors was where Klaus stayed.

“Are we- going out?” Klaus asked, watching him unlock the door with a twinge of anticipation mingling with anxiety. Robert smiled at him, leaned down a bit to kiss his cheek.

“We’re going out.”

“This is a chance, Klaus,” Ben said, voice low as if Robert might hear him. Klaus, as always, ignored him, and leaned into Robert as he unlocked the door and led him outside. It was odd, seeing the hall outside his apartment and walking down the stairs to go outside; since he couldn’t remember coming there that night, it was as if the apartment was a single place on its own, half-split from reality.

And to see the world from the ground rather than multiple stories up was also odd. It was as if he was seeing the world again for the first time. It was cold, and there was snow on the streets, and it began to snow. Klaus held his hand out to catch a snowflake and laughed a little in childish glee.

Robert took him out to get food and coffee in a shop, and then they went on a walk. Christmas lights were strung up around the place and there were decorations in shops and music playing in some areas and it felt surreal. Snow melted down onto the thick curls of his growing hair, still completely uncut since before he had come to Robert’s, and it melted onto his chilled skin. Klaus didn’t mind the cold.

They walked through a park as it got late, snow twirling from a sky like a void over their heads, and Klaus listened to it crunch beneath his feet and he couldn’t help the grin that had been stuck on his face since the moment he had left the apartment. When he turned to look at Robert, he saw him grinning too, and so he threw his arms around him.

“Thank you!” He exclaimed. “Thank you, thank you. I love this,” he said. “I love you, I love you so much, thank you.”

Robert chuckled, patting his back gently, mindful of the painful bruises there. “Well, you’ve been good for me lately,” he murmured, kissing his cheek.

A little hesitantly, Klaus asked, “can we-can we do this more? It’s just so nice out here, and we could just go on walks, and I’d be safe with you here, and-“

Robert hummed gently, looking around the place. “Well, we’ll see. If you’re good for me, maybe we can do this more.”

Klaus nodded his head enthusiastically, and then lunged forwards to kiss him. “Thank you,” he repeated, hugging him tightly. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

It did happen again, much to Klaus’ pleasure. They would go out, simply for food and a drink or just to walk around the place, and it was nice. Klaus loved it. It was nice; romantic, even.

Ben always had something to say, though. “Going for a walk isn’t a treat, Klaus,” he had said. “You’re supposed to be able to do that whenever you want. Ask him when he’s getting you a collar, yeah?”

“I’m not a fucking dog,” Klaus hissed back, glaring at him.

“He treats you exactly like one! He doesn’t treat you like a person!” Ben cried out. “Klaus, please, just phone someone- phone Diego, or Vanya, or Allison, and talk to them and ask them for help and they will-“

“I don’t need any help,” Klaus huffed.

“One day,” Ben said, voice low. “He’s going to hurt you, and he isn’t going to stop, Klaus. Don’t make me watch that.”

“You’re not being forced to watch anything,” Klaus said.

“Someone needs to watch you.”

“Oh, so you’re dog-sitting now?”

“Apparently fucking so,” Ben snapped, glaring at him.

“Why won’t you just leave?” Klaus asked, sounding nearly desperate. “If you can’t just be happy for me?”

“I can’t be happy for you because I don’t know if this is the day that he’s going to fucking kill you,” Ben said back, sounding even more desperate. “Klaus, _please_.”

Klaus, once more, turned around and ignored Ben.

He had thought about growing his hair out a few times. Not to this length, but still; he’d considered it.

Robert liked his hair long. Klaus thought he almost looked a bit like Allison, as his hair crept lower and lower down his back with each passing month. It was odd, but not entirely unpleasant. He liked the look and feel of it, and so did Robert; and plus, the longer it got the more Robert bought him nice things to keep it nice and soft.

Ben just thought it was ridiculous Robert wouldn’t even let him get his hair cut. And so Klaus simply reinforced the idea of himself liking it long even more, just to spite him.

Klaus got to go out more, with Robert by his side. Sometimes, if Robert was stressed like he had been that night with the broken glass, it helped him if he hurt Klaus- just a little bit. Klaus was just happy he could do something to help when Robert already did so much for him. It wasn’t as if he broke a bone, either, or whatever. It wasn’t anything Klaus couldn’t take. It did put him on edge, a bit, even if he knew Robert wasn’t going to hurt him, and he couldn’t help the anxiety about doing something wrong and having to be punished for it, and Ben said that wasn’t right, but, well- it was Klaus’ fault. He simply had to be good, and he wouldn’t need to be punished.

It was fine. All perfectly fine.

Plus; if Klaus did get hurt, properly hurt, then Robert made sure he was seen to. This didn’t happen often, but it did happen.

The heroin must have been cut with something else, or maybe it had just been too much, but it went into his veins and everything after was a blur on his part, ending with him waking up in hospital a couple of days later. Of course, it was an overdose, and a bad one. He was lucky Robert had been there to check on him and notice something was wrong and get him help. Klaus hated hospitals, but his stay was a little easier with Robert by his side.

One nurse asked him if anything was wrong, when he was alone.

“Tell her yes,” said Ben, jumping up to his feet. Klaus frowned at the concerned nurse standing by his bed.

“What?”

“We couldn’t help but notice the bruises,” she said. “And you’re extremely underweight and malnourished. I know it’s hard to speak up, but there are ways we can help you if something is going on-“

“No,” Klaus said, disgusted at the implications. “Why would you- no, nothing’s wrong. I’m fine. The overdose was an accident.”

The nurse smiled sympathetically, sadly. “I know. But if the situation leading to the overdose was… not good, Klaus, then we can get you help and get you out of there.”

His eyes stung. “Get out,” he said, voice wobbling. The nurse frowned, and so did Ben.

“Klaus,” she said, and Klaus shook his head.

“Don’t say that,” he cried. “Get out- leave me alone, I want to be alone!”

The nurse faltered, but she eventually turned and left.

So much for his twenty-eighth birthday, he thought, wiping bitter tears off his cheeks. Spent in hospital with staff and his own brother accusing him of being abused. Accusing Robert of abusing him.

It wore down on him, the accusations. He was happy with Robert, for the first time ever, and it felt as if the world was trying to tear them apart. He just wanted to be happy, and he finally found someone who cared about him, and their relationship had been years of Ben accusing him of horrible things and refusing to understand it from Klaus’ point of view; refusing to understand anything.

Robert found him crying in the hospital room, and took him home that day despite doctors wanting him to stay the night. Klaus was simply relieved to be able to lay in bed with Robert, arms wrapped around him, one hand running through his hair.

In the dark bedroom, Robert shuffled slightly, twisting to reach something behind him. “Hey,” he said, voice gentle. “I know today’s not been good, but I got you something.”

Klaus hummed, pulling his heavy gaze from the window to his lover. In Robert’s hands he held a box; he opened the box to reveal a necklace. It was simple; a thin chain with a pendant on it, and on the back an engraving of their initials, but Klaus loved it; he couldn’t help but tear up at the sight of it. Of course Robert loved him. He just wished Ben could see that.

Robert slid the necklace on around his neck and kissed him, soft and gentle, and held him in his arms until he fell asleep.

For his twenty-ninth birthday, Robert got him a cake. Klaus had never had a birthday cake before. Robert had to cut it for him, his hands were shaking too badly to do it himself, but it was a nice cake. The entire day was nice; going out for a walk, outside, and being called such nice things and held so nicely, being hugged throughout the day, receiving the cake and a meal he couldn’t finish but loved no less.

Of course Robert loved him. Robert went out of his way to get him things, and to do nice things for him. Robert took care of him. Robert loved him, and Klaus loved Robert.

He still wished Ben could see that, though.

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings for: drug use, overdose, physically abuse, rape/non-con/dubious consent/drugged sex, manipulation, weight issues.  
> And here we go to the canon timeline following this, so I'd love to hear any thoughts you have!:)


End file.
